Avalanche 4, Oilers 1

It was Fan Appreciation Night at Rexall Place on Tuesday, but all the home fans got for their long-standing patience and support was a rerun of a tired old movie, as another visitor walked out with another two points. This time it was Colorado Avalanche who ran Edmonton Oilers’ show to the tune of 4-1. It was the 14th time this season that Oilers have lost at home by 3 or more goals.

The first period was played at a good pace, but once the Avalanche established the lead the hosts had little pushback. The second period was boring, and the third one-sided as the Oil managed just 4 shots on net.

If this game was a litmus test for how the Oil stack up against a successfully rebuilt team, the lessons were stark. In our pregame comparison of the two teams, we mentioned how the Avs have depth at the centre position, especially in the form of veteran Paul Stastny, who opened the scoring just 4 minutes in. We pointed out how Colorado has a legitimate first pair on defence, and extolled the virtues of Erik Johnson. He put in a first star performance with a highlight-reel goal that broke an extremely brief 1-1 tie, added an assist, and played an outstanding shutdown game on the blue with partner Jan Hejda. We brought up how the Avs had made some hay with draft picks outside the first round, specifically mentioning defenceman Tyson Barrie, who sealed this tame game with fabulous shot that put it away at 3-1.

In addition to reinforcing those stated advantages, the Avalanche got a better performance from their depth players (Jamie McGinn scored the final goal), and from their youngsters, notably 18-year-old Nathan MacKinnon who dazzled and bamboozled the Oilers all night with speed and stickhandling. Still not sure how the Avs stack up against the best in the NHL, but it’s pretty clear at this moment that they’re a whole lot better than the Edmonton Oilers.

Player Grades

The following are the player grades for the Oilers, with 10 being a “perfect” game, 9 extraordinary, 8 great, 7 good, 6 above average, 5 average, 4 below average, 3 poor, 2 terrible and 1 deserving of almost instant demotion. Compiled by Bruce McCurdy.

#2 Jeff Petry, 3. Got absolutely turnstiled by Johnson just 12 seconds after Perron had tied the game, putting the Oil behind to stay. Such individual breakdowns are a big part of the reason Petry gets labelled “soft”; I don’t think he is soft, but he’s prone to soft coverage at times, and it often comes back to bite the Oilers. Otherwise led the defence corps with 7 shot attempts including a couple of dandies, and also posted a team high 3 hits. Made a couple of ill-advised pinches and a bad change that all led to odd-man rushes.

#4 Taylor Hall, 4. A couple of shots, a couple of takeaways, but was ineffective trying to break through the wall of Hejda and Johnson. Didn’t help the cause by taking a dumb penalty for beaking the ref. His line had some OK moments, but ended the night with a big fat -2.

#5 Mark Fraser, 1. Led the team in one category, giveaways, with 3, which is apporoximately the number of times he handled the puck all game. The “race” between him and MacKinnon was one of the most one-sided I’ve ever seen in the NHL. Skating issues, puck-moving issues, positioning issues, contain issues.

#13 Steve Pinizzotto, 4. Played 13 minutes without a shot attempt. A couple of hits, but not much impact on the actual game.

#14 Jordan Eberle, 4. Some OK moments in combination play with his mates, mostly on the passing side of things. Just one shot attempt, which was blocked. Oilers were outshot 10-6 and outscored 2-0 with their top trio on the ice.

#19 Justin Schultz, 4. His best moments were in transition and on the breakout. Was completely overpowered in the melee around Oilers’ net that resulted in Stastny’s goal. His only hit was on Hall in an inadvertent colllision that left #4 checking his chiclets.

#23 Matt Hendricks, 5. Oilers outshot Colorado 4-1 in his 10½ minutes, with 3 of those shots coming from Hendricks himself. He missed the net with his best chance, then exacerbated that situation with a dreadful pass back to the point that led to yet another jailbreak heading south. Had the best hit of the game when he creamed Andre Benoit.

#27 Boyd Gordon, 5. Was dinged in the early going, but returned to play his usual low-event game. Oilers outshot the Avs 3-2 on Gordon’s watch despite the usual 1:6 ratio of offensive:defensive zone starts.

#30 Ben Scrivens, 5. Was named third star in the building and did have some good saves, but was suspect on the first two goals against, losing the post against Stastny’s jam, then beaten 5-hole along the ice by Johnson. 2 more giveaways, as his puckhandling remains a mystery even to him. 33 shots, 29 saves, .879 Sv%.

#36 Philip Larsen, 5. I’ve become something of a fan of the Dane in this late run, as he has cheerfully seized upon his chance to play fourth-line minutes away from his natural position and has generally held his own. Filled in on the point and contributed an assist on Oilers’ lone goal.

#41 Will Acton, 4. No problem at evens, playing 7½ low-event minutes in which each team mustered but one shot. Had a problem on the PK, however, losing control of his stick and thus being unable to defend against Barrie’s bullet.

#51 Anton Lander, 4. Moved down the depth chart to the third line, but still not playing his natural position. Had a nice deflection in the early going that sounded to have found iron behind J-S Giguere. He too was one of the culprits on Barrie’s goal, backing away from the slot which was already compromised by Acton’s lost stick.

#57 David Perron, 7. His line put up lousy numbers, but Perron’s individual stats were outstanding. In addition to scoring Oilers’ lone goal (a lucky bank shot on the PP), he had 4 shots, 9 shot attempts, 3 hits, and 3 takeaways to lead the squad in all categories. One of the most noticeable Oilers all game. My favourite was when he was the lone guy back defending a 2-on-1 after Gagner and Smyth both got caught waiting for the puck along the end wall in the offensive zone, then Larsen and Petry were serially walked. Terrible hockey all around him, but not by Perron himself; kind of encapsulated his night.

#77 Anton Belov, 4. Engaged in battles along the boards much of the night, mostly in his own zone. Won some, lost some. Made a couple of nice breakout passes.

#84 Oscar Klefbom, 6. One of the few highlights of the game for this Oilers fan was enjoying Klefbom’s mobility and dexterity on the breakout. Buddy’s got wheels, and hands. Decision-making still needs work, but he didn’t make more bad pinches than anybody else, maybe four or five tops.

#85 Martin Marincin, 4. Played 24:30 to lead the Oilers, as Dallas Eakins is starting to become more reliant on the young Slovak. Was a contributor on Perron’s goal, as it was his jumping into an open lane that forced the play. Had his struggles defensively though, being walked by Paul Carey on one notable rush. Is a bit susceptible to wide speed, more a strength issue than a mobility problem, as he needs to become more effective at steering the attacker to poorer angles.

#89 Sam Gagner, 3. Got an assist for a rote pass on Perron’s PP marker, and managed to generate a dangerous shot or two. But gave way more back defensively, notably on the Stastny goal when he skated right past the danger zone to nowhere in particular. Completely fell asleep on a second period sequence, hypnotized yet again by the puck as Nick Holden stepped around him and took the simple pass for a ten-bell chance. Oilers were outshot 15-6 in Gagner’s 15:50 at even strength.

#93 Ryan Nugent-Hopkins, 3. On the ice for two goals against and in the sin-bin for a third. On the first one his biggest mistake was in anticipating Petry could handle the one-on-one, but the fourth goal, by McGinn, was on RNH himself. His recovery of a loose puck in the slot was softer than a Dali watch, and McGinn simply swept the disc right off his blade and into the net. Did have some nice moments on the penalty kill and some decent combination play with his mates,

#94 Ryan Smyth, 3. One point for each puck he tossed to kids in his pregame ritual, but sure didn’t do much to earn even that grade in the actual game. Promoted to the second line but responded with a brutal performance. Played 16½ even strength minutes, during which time Colorado fired 26 unblocked shot attempts to just 8 for the Oilers. Several of them were by Stastny on the one sequence (pictured) as Smyth failed to take him out of the play despite being in position to do so. Lost a few puck battles, had one routine pass go right through his stick, caused an icing on another occasion, and had a singularly brutal line change when he skated off from the far boards just as the Avs were breaking out right through his piece of real estate. Had a couple of his signature wraparounds with predictable results. Shot wide on a 2-on-1 chance. One of the least effective games I’ve ever seen him play.

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